Celebrity Homes: Visit Dominic West’s London Home

Celebrity News | Sep 26, 2016

Celebrity Homes: Visit Dominic West’s London Home – The actor and his wife, landscape designer Catherine FitzGerald, create a vibrant family dwelling full of meaningful possessions and soulful decor.

Outside a three-story residence in Shepherd’s Bush, London, the minivan and the fleet of kids’ bicycles are immediate signs that a visitor has arrived at the right address. But the 19th-century facade, punctuated by a glossy red door and a hanging lantern, only hints at the more unexpected world that lies behind an almost ordinary exterior.

Stepping through a citrus-hued hallway into a light-filled living room, the first impression the home conveys is a sense of openness, space, and color. One can see all the way through the ground floor to a glass atrium that in turn leads into a blooming garden. It is a transportive experience—much like suddenly entering a country retreat from the gray city sidewalks outside.

Landscape designer Catherine FitzGerald stands at the kitchen island chopping vegetables from her backyard. Her husband, actor Dominic West, has just come from a Bikram yoga class and is making coffee on the family’s large stove. “God, I hate it,” he sighs, “but I’ve got to get into shape.” West is one of the stars of the Showtime series The Affair, which centers on an extramarital dalliance and won the Golden Globe for Best TV Drama in February. In it, West often appears naked, so his preoccupation with his appearance in advance of the second season is wholly understandable.

Named after the sheepherders who once took their rest here on their way to the city’s Smithfield Market, Shepherd’s Bush today is a diverse neighborhood where Somali, Syrian, and West Indian immigrants mix with young British families looking for more space. Real estate prices are lower compared to those of central London’s most sought-after districts, including Kensal Rise, where FitzGerald and West used to live. As the family grew, however, the need for a bigger home became apparent. “We already knew people on this street,” Fitzgerald explains, “and we loved how wide and full of light it was. The gardens with their fruit trees were particularly special. When this area was a suburb of London, it used to provide produce for the markets.”